A good many of Stephen Thompson’s 57 wins passed without much fanfare in his kickboxing career.

Not much changed when he crossed over to MMA. A year ago, he was the regional tough, the indie band with the local following.

With a knockout of Dan Stittgen at this past Saturday’s UFC 143, Thompson’s arena tour has begun.

“Coming from a small town in South Carolina, this is huge,” Thompson (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) said. “I’ve never done a press conference before. This is a dream come true.”

The sometime associate of welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre did exactly what he was supposed to do that night, slapping Stittgen (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a one-two-head kick combination he calls “The Moneymaker” and knocking the newcomer out in the first round.

That’s 6-0 for “Wonderboy.”

Of course, Thompson has a long way to go before his kickboxing record matches that of his MMA record, but he announced his presence in a big way, taking home a $65,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus.

“Fighting in the UFC and knocking my opponent out in that fashion, I definitely rank this top of the list,” he said. “I’ve knocked people out with that combination. But this is definitely the top because it’s in the UFC. It was fun.”

Thompson is somewhat unique among the current ranks of UFC fighters. An expert in karate, he uses the same closed-hip stance common to kickboxing fights and martial arts tournaments. Former champ Lyoto Machida brought back into vogue the use of karate in the UFC, though his shoulders are more square to his opponents. In fact, Thompson’s style has only been seen in glimpses since the early days of the UFC.

Fellow UFC 143 competitor Matt Brown openly questioned the readiness of Stittgen in dealing with the striking prowess of Thompson.

“The guy he was fighting – no offense to the guy, but I don’t think he belonged in there at all,” Brown said. “Cope was at least a formidable matchup for me.

“If you look at Thompson’s kickboxing record and what he’s known for – we were backstage warming up and we were like, ‘Whoa, this is not going to go good for this this guy unless he’s got some mad grappling skills because he definitely wasn’t prepared for the striking.'”

Pegging the South Carolina native as a special attraction is apt for the moment, but Thompson said he’s working on being a well-rounded MMA fighter.

“I’m just going to go back and train harder with the UFC,” he said.

And with UFC 145 set to take place in Atlanta – just a few hours away from Thompson’s home in Simpsonville, S.C. – he hopes to make a quick turnaround.

“If UFC wants me to do that, I would definitely do that,” he said of the April 21 pay-per-view card. “I’ve got a big fan base there, and I would definitely fill up some seats.”